The Monmouthshire Association

The Monmouthshire flag

The history

An increasing number of counties across Britain proudly fly their own flags — from Cornwall to Shetland and Pembrokeshire to Yorkshire. In December 2010, the Monmouthshire Association, the local county group of the Association of British Counties, launched a campaign to establish a county flag for Monmouthshire. It was well received and first flown in public at the June–July 2011 Glanusk Horse Trials in neighbouring Brecknockshire, carried proudly by the Monmouthshire Mounted Games Team. In late July the village hall committee in Devauden, in the east of the county, became the first permanent installation of the Monmouthshire flag where it flies at the Hood Memorial Hall in the village.

By September the flag was officially recognized by the Flag Institute and entered into their UK Flags register with UK Design Code UNKG7429. Monmouthshire thus became the 22nd county in Britain to have a flag to call its own. In the coming years we hope to see it flying proudly from the Wye to the Rhymney and beyond!

Getting a flag

The Association has a supply of 5'x3' flags that are offered free of charge to any parish, community, town or principal council in Monmouthshire. County sporting or cultural organisations are also entitled to a free flag. To claim your free flag please get in touch.

Flags are also available to buy from as little as £6 including postage within the UK from retailers including:

The design

The official flag of Monmouthshire is based on the reputed arms of the Ancient British Kingdom of Gwent, the area of which forms much of the county.

These arms are also subsumed in the ecclesiastical arms used by the Diocese of Monmouth, whose area is the same as the county of Monmouth.

Arms of the Diocese of Monmouth

These were incorporated into the coat of arms borne by the Monmouthshire County Council from 1948. This grant was then transferred in 1974 for use by the Gwent County Council, whose administrative remit was also broadly similar to the county of Monmouth.

Arms of the County council of Monmouth

It is noticeable that the shade of blue featured in the latter arms as borne by the county councils, is considerably lighter than that depicted in the ancient arms. The dark blue hue and black are prone to merger from any distance and liable to become indistinct. The lighter shade in the council arms addresses this issue effectively and also evidently works very well as a flag.

The detail of the fleur-de-lis has also been reduced to make the flag simpler to construct or draw.

The flag thus retains a symbol of ancient and local significance in a fresh and impactful style. It is distinct and different from all other county flags but easy to render and familiar to local inhabitants. The flag was designed in accordance with the precepts of good flag design published by both NAVA and the Flag Institute and is in the public domain.

The Monmouthshire Flag at Hood Memorial Hall, Devaduen, Monmouthshire

The Monmouthshire Flag at the 2011 Glanusk Horse Trials, Brecknockshire